Mater Series Print

The flat shapes and larger-than-life scale situates Catalina Codreanu’s work at the intersection between figurative and abstraction. Her distinctive abstracting approach is inspired by her son, motherhood being the central theme of her compositions, that she explores since her children were only a desire. Known for her vibrant palette and omission of details, Catalina Codreanu takes cues from both Pop Art and Minimalism. Her practice is defined by oil or acrylic painting on canvas, but she explores other media too, like drawing, collage, textile art, photography. I strongly believe that every genuine work of art is a self-portrait, in the most profound meaning of the terms “self” and “portrait”. My works tell the viewer who I am through a ludic, innocent language, while reflecting a self crazy in love with her best creation. When I am not in the studio painting compositions that meet at the intersection of minimalism and figurative, I am working in the living room while taking care and photographs of my son. Small graphite drawings, needlework on fabric or on paper, collages, fast acrylic or watercolor paintings on small dimensions, conceptual work and even mother-son collaborations, they are all part of my artistic process that defines me as an artist and mother of a toddler. While working, my son’s immense importance becomes a tool meant to look deeper into my mind, as it activates childhood memories that have so long waited to be remembered. The “Ludo” series, which is inspired by my son’s actual stage, a playing toddler, aims to offer a view on childhood, memory and how the connection between the two makes us who we are, by exploring the concept of play. The tendency to overscale the majority of my compositions came as a consequence of the greatness that I find in this unique connection between him and I. The flat forms and strong colors endorse the ludic theme and represent the way I play, inspired by my son, with painting. Catalina Codreanu, 2016